854 
BIRD-LIFE. 
their voracity they are rarely fat; this is probably owing 
to their restless activity. 
The Gulls may be regarded as the most envious of 
birds: they grudge their fellows the smallest morsel, 
snapping it away even from the beak of another; and 
the Skuas will bully their weaker cousins, until the 
latter are compelled to throw up what they have 
swallowed. 
These disagreeable attributes are counterbalanced, 
however, by others which tell to their advantage. As 
long as Gulls are in good health they are excessively 
clean, bathe freely and often, studiously avoiding places 
where they are liable to soil their plumage; thus it is 
that the white about them is so brilliant, that if the 
naturalist wishes to skin one for his collection he must 
take the greatest care if he would preserve its freshness. 
A flock of Gulls feeding on a green pasture is an exquisite 
picture. Unmolested as they are by the inhabitants of 
northern countries, they live with them on the best of 
terms; they frequent the neighbourhood of farmyards, 
visiting the very gardens, even, close to the houses. ‘ 4 Look 
at our Pigeons,” said a native of Lofodden to me one day, 
pointing to some twenty Gulls that were running to and 
fro in a meadow in front of us: “ Have you ever seen 
any more beautiful ?” I could not but say I had not, for 
these dazzling creatures, on the carpet of green, really 
charmed me more than ever any Pigeons had done. 
Gulls look still more beautiful on the billows. Their 
thick plumage will not permit of their diving beneath the 
surface of the sea, and they swim on the water as buoyant 
as corks. Imagine, then, what a sight it must be to see 
a flock of these birds, numbering some hundreds or 
thousands, floating on the dark waves of the heaving 
